We had arrived at the place the white unicorn had called the Everfree Forest. It was almost scary just how much like Earth this planet was. I felt right at home among the branches of the trees. They even smelled like pine and fir.

I acted as lookout while the others demorphed, keeping a wary eye on the sky. Some of those horses looked just like a Pegasus, and could even fly. How something their size was able to achieve flight was an enigma to me. Their wings were far too small compared to their bodies. On the plus side though, they were easy to keep an eye on.

That was the other thing that was unusual about this planet. The colouring of the horses wasn’t too unusual - you’d say the same if you ever saw an Andalite in the flesh - but what really astounded me was everything else. Everything I looked at had such a vibrant, rich color, brighter than anything naturally occurring on Earth. I’m not saying this is a bad thing; in fact, it was rather pleasant to look at. It was just a bit unsettling, that’s all.

“How’re things looking from up there, Tobias?” Jake called up at me. I swiveled my head, looking at him with one eye.

I said. <Also, you are not going to believe this, but some of them are actually pushing clouds around.>

<That is not physically possible,> Ax said almost immediately. <You must be seeing things.>

Maybe Ax was right, so I decided to take another look. My eyes hadn’t deceived me the first time, for I saw a winged horse move over to a small cloud and push it across the sky. But that wasn’t even the most amazing part. After it had pushed it a distance the horse gave the cloud a small kick, and as if on cue a torrent of rainwater came out.

<How is an inflatable synthetic rubber decoration designed for celebrations comparable to an accumulation of dust and water vapour?> Ax asked.

“I think the more important question is how they are able to do that?” Cassie said with much surprise.

“No, the most important question is how come creatures from Earth mythology actually exist and speak fluent English. And have the cheesiest names I’ve ever heard,” Marco said, only half-joking. “Ax, what is the likelihood of such a thing happening?”

“Guys, focus for a moment,” Jake interrupted Ax before he could say anything. “The real important question is how are we getting home? We just trashed our only spaceship, and I highly doubt the Yeerks are going to let us waltz in and borrow another.” He was silent for a moment. “That is, assuming we can even find where the Yeerks are hiding.”

“Where do you think they could be?” Rachel asked, looking around. “There seem to be loads of ideal hiding spots.”

I said after scanning the horizon. <Wow, we sure did a number on the castle.>

“I forgot about that. How much do you think it will hamper us diplomatically?”

I groaned silently. Maybe I could ask one of the horses next time we meet what the plural of Pegasus is.

“Do you think we did the right thing by being so secretive with them?” Cassis asked.

“We had to be, who knows how many of them were controllers or not,” Rachel retorted.

“So what?” Rachel said. “That just means there are fewer controllers than free horses. That blue one is suspicious. Did you see how it attacked Ax without thinking?”

“I’m just saying that something seems off with these horses,” Rachel continued, ignoring Marco.

<Yes, their colouring is rather unusual,> Ax said. <And did any of you notice the odd brands they all possessed?>

I pondered out loud.

“But these aren’t normal horses. They can speak and fly and reason. Why would you brand them in the first place?” Cassie pondered.

“Hey little birdies! Are you here?” A shrill voice cut through the idle chatter below. It sounded familiar. I recognized it after a few moments.

“Are you playing a game? Is it hide and seek? Can I play too?” A bouncing pink puff hopped into the tiny clearing where the others were all standing. She stopped a few feet away from the others, staring at them in confusion.

Jake and the rest returned her confused look. I was stunned myself. I had been watching both the sky and the ground as well as I could, but the horse had appeared out of thin air.

“Ooohhh, what are you?! Are you the birdies, ‘cause you’re standing with Aximilmimy all fine and dandy. Is this what you look like? I brought you some birdseed from Fluttershy, but I guess you don’t want it now. Unless you really are birds, then you’ll still eat it, right?”

The horse continued talking as Jake shook his head disbelievingly. He looked up at me, glaring.

<Hey, I was keeping watch,> I said to him privately. <She just came out of nowhere! Honest!>

“My name’s Pinkie Pie! Oh, did you forget? Can you not remember after changing shape?” The horse gasped loudly. “Does that mean you don’t remember where you come from?”

“Oh good, because for a moment I was worried you’d be wandering aimlessly being all like ‘where am I’ and ‘who am I’ and ‘where am I going’ and then I’d have to teach you how to remember!”

“Listen, Pinkie Pie,” Jake began, “Why are you here? Didn’t we ask for privacy?”

“Well, no. You just wanted an isolated area where you wouldn’t be found. I remember it all perfectly!” She giggled and began bouncing around again. “So I decided to give you a moment to adjust and then come to brighten up your day, cause you had just crashed your big metal bug and you seemed upset.”

“Nope! I just came straight here after I said goodbye! It’s getting late so everypony else is getting ready for sleep, and I was too but then I remembered you probably haven’t eaten anything, so I stopped at Fluttershy’s house and got some birdseed for you ‘cause you were all birds, but now you’re not.” She scrunched up her forehead, seemingly in thought. “So, what do you eat anyway? Gemstones? Dirt? Hay? Daisies?”

<Prince Jake, I am finding it difficult to keep up with her constantly-shifting topics,> Ax said to everyone except the horse.

“Thank you, Pinkie Pie, but we can survive on our own,” Rachel said, a hint of anger in her voice.

“Oh, call me Pinkie! All my friends do!” She gasped again. “Oh, right! You’re my friends now! I have to learn your names. See I know all the names of my friends.” She walked - er, I guess that would be trotted - up to Cassie and peered at her. “Let’s see, what’s your name? Shifty? Chango? Mirror? Morphius?”

Pinkie seemed to pipe up even more, if that was even possible at her current level of excitement.

“Cassie! Cassie and Aximilimy, and...” She trailed off as she looked at the others. She zeroed in on Jake. “Grouchy McGroucherson over there I think is Prince Jake. He looks as angry as Prince Blueblood always does.” I saw Marco roll his eyes.

“Now for you two,” Pinkie said, pointing at Rachel and Marco. “Hmm, weren’t there six of you before?” She gasped. “Six of you, six of us! We could be the bestest friends! Or was I wrong? Are there only five?”

“Well we are in a forest, and birds perch in trees, duh,” Pinkie responded, seemingly seriously, though the smile plastered on her face made it difficult to tell. Marco groaned loudly.

“Oh, so you’re Marco?” Pinkie said, turning her attention away from me. “Marco, Cassie, Aximimimimimi, and Prince Jake.”

“Oh, so you’re all humans?” Pinkie piped up. Ax swung his eyestalks to her in shock.

<Impossible! That was a private thought speak communication! How did you hear it?>

“Oh, was I not supposed to hear that? I’m sorry.” Pinkie pouted, completely oblivious to what she’d done. To my surprise, I found myself laughing. This got Pinkie’s attention.

“So Mr. Bird, what would your name be?” She asked, tilting her head playfully. I nearly broke out into laughter again after watching her.

“That’s a funny name, but in a good way. Not the mean funny, although I still find it hard to believe that funny can be anything but fun.” Pinkie turned to Rachel. “Oh, that’s right. I still need to guess your name.” She furrowed her brow, deep in thought. “I’m going to say Rachel, ‘cause you look like a Rachel!”

Pinkie giggled at this knowledge and began jumping around the others in a wide circle. Then, to everyone’s surprise, music appeared from nowhere and she started singing.

“Tobias, Rachel and Prince Jake
Marco, Cassie, Axilimi
You’re all my new friends, now let’s have some cake
With your new best friend Pinkie Pie!”

She finished her song by embracing all six of us in a hug, even though we were a good distance away and I was in a tree. The others all looked at her with baffled looks. Ax’s eyes were nearly bulging out of his head.

As soon as he asked, Pinkie let us all go. I hovered in the air for a moment before landing on the ground. Somewhat taken aback, Pinkie pouted, her exuberance and excitement gone in an instant.

“Oh, everypony in town says that!” I heard Marco cough as he tried to hide another groan.

“Speaking of the others, Pinkie, there’s a good reason why we didn’t want to be found,” Jake said. “So do you think you can promise us that you won’t say anything to your friends? I know it’s a lot to ask, but we have good reasons.”

“Yep! I won’t tell anypony you’re here! Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” she punctuated her bizarre oath by sticking her hoof in her eye. I watched, bewildered that she could bend like that.

<You know, Marco, you’re going to use up all your groans at this rate,> I told him privately. He flashed me a devilish grin.

“Well I’d better get back to town. The Cakes probably need my help with closing up Sugarcube Corner,” Pinkie said “See you all tomorrow.” And with that she went bounding off through the woods.

<Plus if she were a controller she wouldn’t have acted that way towards us,> I added.

“Oh, I just remembered!” Pinkie said, bouncing into the center of us again. I squawked and flapped my wings in surprise. For a horse, she was quite skillful in being stealthy. Pinkie reached behind her and pulled out a giant pink cake lined with white frosting. “I know you all don’t want a party just yet, but I thought you would like some cake! You’ve never had a cake baked by me before, have you?”

All of us were at a loss of words from what we had just witnessed. Ax especially was taken back. The look in his eyes made it seem that they were going to burst from his head.

“Consider it a gift between new friends!” She then passed the cake to Cassie, said her goodbyes and bounced back through the trees. Once the others were sure she was gone they turned to each-other and then at the cake.

“Do you think it’s safe to eat?” Marco asked. “She could have laced it with poison or something.”

“She doesn’t strike me as the type of per-er, horse to do that,” Cassie said. Rachel scoffed, walked over to the cake, stuck her finger in the icing and ate it.

Cautiously the others approached the cake and one by one took small samples, with the exception of Ax. I could see he was in the process of morphing to human. Since Andalites don’t have mouths they have no real sense of taste. Unfortunately for us whenever he’s in human morph he can’t control his senses.

<Um, Ax, what are you-> I never got the chance to finish asking before Ax leapt at the cake, shoving whole handfuls into his mouth at once. The others just barely got out of the way as frosting covered chunks were tossed around us. Soon the area was painted pink, and still Ax feasted.

<Well, you guys may be fine, but I still need to eat,> I said, spreading my wings and starting to get some air. <I’m going to go hunting. I’ll be back shortly.> I saw them each give me a salute for luck before breaking through the canopy and into the sky.

Off in the distance, circling the town, I could see a number of Pegasuses moving clouds around and even sitting or laying on them. A crazy idea suddenly materialized as I watched them flying around. I climbed higher into the air, leaving the ground behind. Eventually, I spotted a lone cloud floating above the forest. Figuring I had nothing to lose, I aimed for it and tried to land.

I honestly expected to fall through it and was preparing myself to quickly take flight again. To my amazement however, my talons landed on the soft, puffy surface without a hitch. I flexed my talons, feeling the cloud bend and squish beneath them. I laughed with giddy excitement.

I toyed around with the clouds for a few minutes, just breaking bits off and reforming others into little figures. In the back of my mind, I knew we had a possible alien invasion to deal with alongside getting back to Earth, but I was having too much fun to care at the moment.

My Little Pony: Morphing is Magic

by Tricondon

Chapter 7